Hattie Elizabeth Burdette
Born1872 (1872)
Washington, D.C., US
Died1955 (aged 82–83)
Washington, D.C., US
OccupationArtist
Known forPortrait and miniature painting
Notable workGeorge Washington as Master of His Lodge, 1932

Hattie Elizabeth Burdette (1872–1955) was an American painter. She painted portraits, miniatures, and still lifes in oil, watercolor and pastels. Burdette's best-known work was a portrait of George Washington as a Mason, painted for the George Washington Bicentennial Commission[1] using items that Washington himself had used during his life.

Early life

Burdette was born and raised in Washington, D.C., and educated in the local schools before studying art with Harold MacDonald at the Norwood Institute.[2]

Burdette's portrait of John Langdon, currently in the collection of the United States Capitol

Artistic career

Burdette was very active in the Washington D.C. arts community.

She was one of the charter members of the Washington Water Color Club at its founding in 1896, and remained a member, exhibiting with them nearly every year until 1926.[3] Burdette was also one the founders of the Society of Washington Artists. She served as vice-president from 1926 to 1929 and exhibited with the society for nearly every year between 1892 and 1932, and received honorable mention in 1922.[4] Burdette was a founding member of the Miniature Painters, Sculptors and Gravers Society of Washington, of which organization she served as president in 1933 and 1934.

Her work appeared in the Greater Washington Independent Exhibition of 1935. A portrait of Mabel Boardman, owned by the American Red Cross, appeared in an exhibit at the National Gallery of Art in 1950.[5] Her miniatures won several awards at the Royal Society of Miniature Painters in London.[6]

Burdette's most famous painting, a portrait of George Washington as a freemason was commissioned in 1931 by Freemason and U.S. Congressman Sol Bloom for the George Washington Bicentennial Commission. Actor Tefft Johnson served as a model for Washington. The painting was donated to the George Washington Masonic National Memorial by Sol Bloom as a memorial to his wife.[7] Prints of the portrait were sold as souvenirs for the Washington bicentennial.[8]

Death and legacy

Burdette lived her whole life in Washington, D.C. and continued painting until about three years before her death in 1955.[9] She is buried at Congressional Cemetery along with other Burdette family members.

Marquise de Pelleport, watercolor on ivory, Hagley Museum and Library, Wilmington, DE

Collections

References

  1. ↑ Sarudy, Barbara Wells (27 December 2015). "It's About Time: George Washington as an American Freemason". Retrieved 26 December 2017.
  2. ↑ Falk, Peter (1999). Who Was Who in American Art: 1564-1975. Madison, CT: Sound View Press. p. 504. ISBN 0932087574.
  3. ↑ Falk, Peter (1999). Who Was Who in American Art: 1564-1975. Madison, CT: Sound View Press. p. 504. ISBN 0932087574.
  4. ↑ Jacobsen, Anita (2002). Jacobsen's Biographical Index of American Artists: "Artists native to the United States or working in the United States from 1606 to 2002". Carrollton, TX: A.J. Publications. p. 475. ISBN 0960445609.
  5. ↑ Virgil E. McMahan (1995). The Artists of Washington, D.C., 1796–1996. Artists of Washington. ISBN 978-0-9649101-0-2.
  6. ↑ "Hattie Elizabeth Burdette | American Art Collaborative". browse.americanartcollaborative.org. Retrieved 2022-01-13.
  7. ↑ Brown, William Adrian. History of the George Washington Masonic National Memorial, 1922–1974: Half Century of Construction. Washington, D.C.: George Washington Masonic National Memorial Association, 1980.
  8. ↑ "Lot Detail – Scarce Print of Hattie E. Burdette's Masonic Portrait of George Washington". natedsanders.com. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
  9. ↑ Virgil E. McMahan (1995). The Artists of Washington, D.C., 1796–1996. Artists of Washington. ISBN 978-0-9649101-0-2.
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